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THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE' October 3f, 1986 frl# Vi
Sports tycoon fights for world’s children
by Richard Bono
TSI staff writer
Washington, D.C., sports czar
Abe Pollin would remind Jews
that the United Nation’s Chil
dren’s Fund (UNICEF) is con
cerned with saving the lives of
children and not with politics.
Pollin, the co-chairmen of
UNICEF’s Washington, D.C.,
Advisory Council, said he is
aware of the anti-Israel diatribes
that often mark meetings of the
United Nations. But, the con
demnation of Israel in the U nited
Nations is less crucial to him
when it comes to UNICEF.
“Obviously, I’m very pro-
Israel,” Pollin said. “I’ve been
there many times. I raise funds
for Israel and I love the country
deeply. UNICEF is an arm of the
United Nations, true, but I would
urge Jews to look at the fact that
there are human beings, particu
larly children, who are starving
and if we can save those lives,
then that’s what we should do.”
He added that Elie Wiesel, the
1986 winner of the Nobel Peace
Prize, helps starving children in
Africa and elsewhere almost as
much as he campaigns for fellow
Jews in the Soviet Union. “Wie
sel is worried about people who
are in need throughout the world.
I think a Jew should look at it
that way,” he said.
Pollin, 63, visited Atlanta re
cently to spread the word about
UNICEF. He is on a tour that is
taking him to major metropoli
tan areas throughout the country
in an effort to inspire America’s
corporate and civic communities
to help UNICEF.
“I hope that each major city in
the country will adopt an area of
‘The fact that there are
40,000 children in this
world that die every day
is a statistic I find com
pletely overwhelming. Of
the 40,000 who die every
day...half can be saved
with money, education
and effort.’
—A be Pollin
the world where there are chil
dren in need, children who are
hungry,” he said.
Pollin, who owns Washington’s
pro basketball and hockey fran
chises and the Capital Centre in
which they compete, is a tireless
worker for many causes in his
city of Washington, for the Jew
ish community throughout the
world and for the nation. But, it
is UNICEF that is the current
focus of his attention.
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“The fact that there are 40,000
children in this world that die
every day is a statistic that I find
completely overwhelming,” he
said, “Of the 40,000 who die
every day, half those lives can be
saved. That’s 15 million lives a
year that are lost and half of
them can be saved with money,
education and with effort.”
Pollin said the new tax reform
plan recently signed into law by
President Reagan will hurt efforts
to raise funds for UNICEF and
other causes.
“I think that we will lose those
people who make contributions
to charities only when it fits their
tax purposes,” he said. “That just
means we have to work harder to
get the people who give out of
their hearts and are not worried
about the tax consequences.”
“UNICEF needs volunteers
who are willing to dedicate them
selves to our goals of having a
record-breaking fundraising sea
son,” said Atlanta-area chairper
son Sandy Teepen. “We’re hop
ing that the community will come
together in a camaraderie of gen
erosity and goodwill for children
of the world.”
Also during his visit to Atlanta,
Abe Pollin told of his trip to the
remote Karamoja region of Ugan
da, an area on the brink of fam
ine, where doctors estimate that
at least three-quarters of the
children are malnourished.
“Seeing hungry children by the
thousands is a very distressing
sight,” Pollin said, adding that he
knew the children he saw and
comforted would be dead in a
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Abe Pollin (right) looks over child at UNICEF feeding center
in Kabong, Uganda.
matter of days.
“The project of one city adopt
ing one area of the world, I think,
will accomplish a great deal,” he
said. “The idea I have is that if
you can relate directly to an area
of the world and if maybe some
body goes there like I did and
comes back and shows the peo
ple where their dollars are spent
and how they’ve helped the chil
dren, then it’s a much more direct
way of helping.”
The U.S. Committee for
UNICEF raises money for pro
jects in the 117 developing coun
tries of Asia, Africa, Latin Amer
ica and the Middle East. It is
funded entirely by voluntary
contributions from individuals,
groups and corporations.
The basic services provided by
UNICEF are; Water supply and
sanitation; maternal and child
health care; child nutrition;
training and education; social
services; and emergency relief
and rehabilitation.